WO2005079445A2 - Process for incorporating substances into polymeric materials in a controllable manner - Google Patents

Process for incorporating substances into polymeric materials in a controllable manner Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2005079445A2
WO2005079445A2 PCT/US2005/005016 US2005005016W WO2005079445A2 WO 2005079445 A2 WO2005079445 A2 WO 2005079445A2 US 2005005016 W US2005005016 W US 2005005016W WO 2005079445 A2 WO2005079445 A2 WO 2005079445A2
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polymer
permeant
acrylonitrile
styrene
group
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PCT/US2005/005016
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English (en)
French (fr)
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WO2005079445A3 (en
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Jean-Pierre Ibar
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Jean-Pierre Ibar
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Priority to AU2005214953A priority Critical patent/AU2005214953A1/en
Priority to CA002555202A priority patent/CA2555202A1/en
Priority to EP05723192A priority patent/EP1718692A4/de
Priority to JP2006554199A priority patent/JP2007523251A/ja
Publication of WO2005079445A2 publication Critical patent/WO2005079445A2/en
Publication of WO2005079445A3 publication Critical patent/WO2005079445A3/en

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    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C08—ORGANIC MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS; THEIR PREPARATION OR CHEMICAL WORKING-UP; COMPOSITIONS BASED THEREON
    • C08J—WORKING-UP; GENERAL PROCESSES OF COMPOUNDING; AFTER-TREATMENT NOT COVERED BY SUBCLASSES C08B, C08C, C08F, C08G or C08H
    • C08J3/00—Processes of treating or compounding macromolecular substances
    • C08J3/20—Compounding polymers with additives, e.g. colouring
    • C08J3/203—Solid polymers with solid and/or liquid additives
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C08—ORGANIC MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS; THEIR PREPARATION OR CHEMICAL WORKING-UP; COMPOSITIONS BASED THEREON
    • C08G—MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS OBTAINED OTHERWISE THAN BY REACTIONS ONLY INVOLVING UNSATURATED CARBON-TO-CARBON BONDS
    • C08G63/00—Macromolecular compounds obtained by reactions forming a carboxylic ester link in the main chain of the macromolecule
    • C08G63/88—Post-polymerisation treatment
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C08—ORGANIC MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS; THEIR PREPARATION OR CHEMICAL WORKING-UP; COMPOSITIONS BASED THEREON
    • C08G—MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS OBTAINED OTHERWISE THAN BY REACTIONS ONLY INVOLVING UNSATURATED CARBON-TO-CARBON BONDS
    • C08G64/00—Macromolecular compounds obtained by reactions forming a carbonic ester link in the main chain of the macromolecule
    • C08G64/40—Post-polymerisation treatment

Definitions

  • This invention pertains to processes for controlling the molecular weight and fluidity of polymer melts by incorporating into the solid polymer, materials in the form of gases, liquids, mists, and their blends. The invention also pertains to the products made thereby. The invention also pertains to modifying properties of the solid polymer by introduction of substances while the polymer is in a molecularly disentangled state. BACKGROUND
  • Polymers are made up of long chain molecules, i.e. macromolecules, which entangle themselves, The entanglement provides mechanical strength to the polymer in the solid and melt phases, but also increases the viscosity of the melt phase. Higher polymer chain molecular weight in general results in higher viscosity, and therefore a higher power requirement for processing a given polymer at a given temperature. 003. Control of molecular weight, and hence the viscosity and solid phase physical properties of a polymer, has long been a goal of many processors. Polymer chains can be lengthened by the addition of cross linking agents, or by post polymerization in the melt phase of a reactor made prepolymer. This technology is described and exemplified in patent U.S.
  • the present invention also has utility, for example, in systems that use the permeability of materials to deliver substances, for example to the human skin.
  • the present inventor has now unexpectedly found that it is possible to further control the viscosity and molecular weight of polymers by incorporating additives into the polymer in the solid phase, in such a way that the additives have been permeated into the polymer and become in intimate contact with the polymer chains. Some of the additives that would be expected to be inert with respect to the chemical structure of the chains still have the desired effect. 0010.
  • the present invention provides a process to incorporate into polymeric materials that are optionally molecularly disentangled, at a temperature below the solidification temperature of the polymer, and preferably when the resin is still in the form of pellets or granules, and under controlled conditions of temperature and pressure, amounts of other molecules ("the permeating material” or "permeant") whose presence inside the polymer is able to affect its future behavior and properties.
  • the permeating material or "permeant”
  • the physical form of the material to be inserted into the free volume of the polymer can be a simple gas, a vapor, a fluidized bed or an aerosol or a mixture of any of these.
  • the material can also be in the form of a liquid from which molecules can diffuse, such as a mist or a bulk liquid, or an emulsion.
  • the material can also be in the form of a solid, preferably a finely divided solid, in which molecules diffuse from a solid that is in contact with the polymer surface.
  • solid phase materials are bulk materials, or particles in suspension, including nanoparticles, 0012. After controlled exposure to the permeating material, and return to storage conditions, generally room temperature and atmospheric pressure, the free volume of the polymer is now occupied with molecules from that substance, and their presence in the structure may result in a modification of the polymer characteristics, either in the solid state, or in the molten state. 0013.
  • US Patent 5,885,495 to Ibar teaches a process to disentangle the macromolecules of a polymer melt by a method that combines pure shear deformation, by drag or pressure flow, shear vibration and melt fatigue under extensional flow, such that the viscosity of the melt can be significantly reduced by the compounded effect of pure shear and shear vibration on shear-thinning, and the shear oscillation strain amplitude.
  • US Patent 6,210,030 also to Ibar, describes a novel apparatus and methods to apply industrially the disentanglement process taught in US Patent letter 5,885,495. 0014.
  • the permeating material is added to disentangled polymer pellets as the pellets are being fed into processing equipment.
  • disentangled pellets are dried under vacuum, fed into the hopper of an extruder, where the permeating material is also introduced. Permeation of the substance into the polymer pellets then takes place in the extruder hopper, and the intimate mixture of polymer plus permeating material are then extruded together. 0015.
  • pellets of disentangled polymers are inoculated with a dosed amount of chemical molecules able to react, at processing temperature, with the bonds of the macromolecules embedded in the free volume, and break the chain into two or more segments or create branching and/or cross-linking, thus modifying the molecular weight distribution of the polymer.
  • the small concentration of permeating material molecules occupying the free volume can be used to characterize the type of polymer that the polymer matrix comprises. For example for the purpose of sorting automatically recycled plastics, or to characterize the identity of the molder of the part manufactured from the products made with the present invention. 0016.
  • the molecules of the substance incorporated in the free volume are ionized or are ions. The effect is to modify the dielectric properties of the polymer product treated, and the surface and bulk conductivity. 0017.
  • the molecules of the substance incorporated in the free volume are magnetically polarized or are magnets. The effect is to modify the magnetic properties of the polymer product treated. 0018.
  • the barrier properties of the products created hereby are improved, by the incorporation and remaining presence of specific particles, for instance nanoparticles, which plug up the free volume pathways mostly responsible for gas and liquid diffusion. 0019.
  • pellets of disentangled polymers are inoculated with a dosed amount of chemical molecules able to react, at processing temperature, with the bonds of the macromolecules embedded in the free volume, and break the chain into two or more segments, thus modifying the molecular weight distribution of the polymer.
  • polymer in a solid phase is permeated with a substance while the polymer is in a non disentangled state and subjected to a meting and processing operation that modifies it rheological properties.
  • FIGURES BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 0021.
  • FIG 1 is shown a schematic diagram of an apparatus that can carry out the process of the present invention in that a supply of polymer pellets is dosed with a permeant before being melt processed.
  • figure 2 is shown a design for a manifold of which the equipment of figure 1 comprises.
  • figure 3 is shown a design for a dosing chamber suitable for use in the process of the present invention.
  • figure 4 is shown a further embodiment of the invention, in which product from a polymerization reactor is extruded, disentangled, pelletized, and then dosed with permeant. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
  • polymer chain is meant the molecular backbone of the polymer.
  • the backbone comprises the longest sequence of connected atoms in any given molecule.
  • LDPE low density polyethylene
  • the backbone comprises all of the carbon atoms in a given molecule.
  • polymer and polymeric material as used herein are synonymous, and are defined as in the Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 84 th Edition CRC Press, 2003-2004, page 13-7 to 13-14, which pages are hereby incorporated herein by reference. 0028.
  • disentanglement refers to polymer pellets or products produced by “disentanglement”, which refers to the process of either partially or completely removing entanglements among polymer chains in a given polymer sample.
  • disentanglement refers to the process of either partially or completely removing entanglements among polymer chains in a given polymer sample.
  • US 5,885,495 and US 6,210,030, and both to Ibar and both incorporated herein by reference in their entirety disclose use of disentanglement to control, and essentially lower, the viscosity on a polymer melt. These patents also disclose the disentanglement processing window parameters which optimize the efficiency of the viscosity control invention. 0029.
  • the preferred means for disentangling uses the "Tek Flow Processor", which refers to a commercial apparatus of the embodiment of the invention of U.S.
  • gas mixture refers to the product obtained by mixing two or more gases or volatiles in a chamber, at a temperature, pressure and under concentration conditions which allow the mixture to be transferable to a vacuum chamber holding the pellets or the parts to be treated according to the present invention.
  • gas mixture can combine an inert gas and a chemical volatile, in a given proportion.
  • the gas may be ionized or one of its components may be ionized by plasma or high voltage discharge.
  • plasma refers to the state of matter obtained by subjecting a gas to an electrical discharge.
  • a plasma generally comprises species such as ions and atoms that are not generally available in states of matter that are available outside of the discharge. 0035.
  • temperature of solidification is meant that temperature of a polymer, copolymer or polymer blend, below which the material presents the mechanical characteristics of a solid.
  • polymer pellets is meant the resin products usually produced in reactors, and stocked in bags at room temperature, or a temperature below their temperature of solidification, under either pellets, granular, chips or powder (fluff) form.
  • means for forming is meant a process by which a polymer melt is turned into a useful article.
  • Forming means are well known to those skilled in the art and include, but are not limited to for the purposes of this disclosure, injection molding, blow molding, film extrusion, sheet extrusion, extrusion to form tapes or fibers, or tubes, and rotomolding.. 0038.
  • the "degree of disentanglement” is a measure of the change in melt flow index (MFI) of a virgin, or disentangled resin upon being subjected to a process of the invention, corrected for any change in molecular weight that the polymer chains may have undergone. 0042.
  • MFI melt flow index
  • the method of the present invention comprises the steps of providing a solid polymer, preferably in the form of solid pellets, and that are optionally in a molecularly disentangled state greater than about 2%, and drying the polymer under controlled conditions of temperature and humidity.
  • the polymer should be dried to an effective level of moisture that allows permeant to enter the polymer solid. Such an effective level will generally be below 1% by weight, and preferably less than 0.5% by weight and more preferably less than 0.1% by weight.
  • the method further comprises the steps of exposing the dried polymer to a permeant and allowing the permeant to permeate the solid polymer.
  • a change in the molecular weight or the molecular disentanglement state of the polymer is produced by an optional subsequent melt processing step, or, in another embodiment of the invention, to disperse the permeant and polymer blend and affect the properties of the product or article once molded.
  • the optional melt processing step in which the blend is subjected to a combination of temperature, pressure, and shear, and which allow the components of the blend to react with each other, a change in the molecular weight or the molecular disentanglement state of the polymer is produced.
  • the conditions for each step in the process can be determined by a minimal level of experimentation, in which the final polymer characteristics are mapped as a function of the parameters of the process, such as temperatures, pressures, shear rate etc.
  • the present inventor has discovered that many types of permeant can be used to effect changes in many polymers. For example, antioxidants such as phenols, amines, phosphites and sulfur containing stabilizers. Also UV Stabilizers such as hindered amine light stabilizers.
  • alkylphenols More specifically, alkylphenols, hydroxyphenylpropionates, hydroxybenzyl compounds, alkylidene bisphenols, secondary aromatic amines, thiobisphenols, aminopheonols, thiothers, phosphates and phosphonites and sterically hindred amine.
  • metal deactivators amides of aliphatic and aromatic mono and dicarboxylic acids and their N-monosubstituted derivatives such as for example N,N' diphenyl oxamide, 0048.
  • permeants such as cyclic amides such as barbituric acid, hydrazones and bishydrazones of aliphatic and aromatic aldehydes, as benzaldehyde and salicylaldehyde or of o-hydroxy-aryl-ketones.
  • polyhydrazides molecular combinations of sterically hindered phenols and metal complexing groups, nickel salts of benzyl phosphonic acids, alone, or in combination with other antioxidants or metal deactivators, pyridenethiol tin compounds and phosphorous acid esters of a thiobisphenol. 0050.
  • Solvents for the specific polymer system can also be used.
  • a solvent for a polymer When used herein, a solvent for the polymer is as defined in the Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 84 th Edition CRC Press, 2003-2004, page 13-6, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
  • toluene, xylene, halogenated benzenes such as dichloro- and trichlorobenzene can be used for polyolefins.
  • Aromatic or aliphatic hydrocarbons, alcohols, or esters are also suitable permeants for use in the invention.
  • Suitable permeants for use in the invention are also chlorofluorocarbons as described in the Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 84 th Edition CRC Press, 2003-2004, page 6-144 to 6-146, which pages are hereby incorporated herein by reference. 0052.
  • Suitable permeants for use in the invention are acetic acid, azobisisobutyronitrile, benzoyl peroxide, dicumyl peroxide, glycolic acid, stearic acid, maleic acid, tannic acid, sebacic acid, a ipic acid, caprylic acid, salicyclic acid, 1-octanol, 2-ethylhexanol, polyethylene glycol, resorcinol, pentaerythritol, di-pentaerythritol, saccharose, glycerin, and any trihydric alcohol or diol. 0053.
  • suitable permeants for use in the invention are pentaerythritol esters of fatty acids such as stearic acid, oleic acid, glycerol rosin ester, esters of propionic acid, butyric acid, tetraesters of caproic and peralgonic acids. Also included are esters of monobasic long chain fatty acids, for example stearic, palmitic acid, and myristic acid and esters of pentaerythritol, polyol esters and esters of dicarboxylic acids such as maleic acid. 0054.
  • fatty alcohols such as lauryl, cetyl, stearyl, oleyl alcohols, glycerol stearate, glycerol monolaurate, glyceryl hydroxystearate, ricinolate esters, caprylic triglycerides, capric triglycerides and methyl acetyl ricinoleate.
  • fatty alcohols such as lauryl, cetyl, stearyl, oleyl alcohols, glycerol stearate, glycerol monolaurate, glyceryl hydroxystearate, ricinolate esters, caprylic triglycerides, capric triglycerides and methyl acetyl ricinoleate.
  • permeants examples include fluorescent materials, phosphorescent materials, paramagnetic materials such as spin labels, materials that have a characteristic infrared band that can be used to characterize their presence, and molecules in general that can be characterized spectroscopically while in the polymer matrix.
  • the permeant can also be a material that modifies the dielectric or magnetic properties of the polymer in some way, For example ionic compounds or materials that are magnetized.
  • the method of the invention can be further understood by reference to the figures.
  • figure 1 is shown a schematic diagram of an embodiment of the process of the invention in which disentangled polymer pellets are supplied from a Gaylord container (10) via a vacuum hose to a loading device (11).
  • the loading device will be a gravimetric feeder, as supplied for example by K-Tron (of Pitman, NJ), that supplies pellets at a controlled rate or in controlled batch weights to the downstream process. 0059.
  • the pellets are then supplied to a heating chamber (12) where they are heated to a temperature suitable to the polymer plus permeant system being treated. From the heating chamber the pellets are supplied to a vacuum chamber (13), which is evacuated to a pressure of 0.1 bar or less, more preferably 10 "2 bar or less, and most preferably 1 O "3 Torr or less.
  • the pellets are passed to a doping chamber (14), where they are exposed to the permeant which is supplied via a manifold (15). From the manifold, the pellets are fed to a metering device (16) that directly feeds them to the throat of an extruder (17).
  • a metering device (16) that directly feeds them to the throat of an extruder (17).
  • the processes corresponding to steps 12, 13, and 14 in figure 1 are carried out in one container, which is one of at least a pair of containers and preferably three containers, which are indexed around a carousel. -A piece of equipment of this type is manufactured by Maguire Products (Aston, PA). 0061.
  • the Maguire dryer operates with 3 Stainless Steel canisters that are mounted directly onto a carousel that indexes counterclockwise 360 degrees. Through this 3 step process each canister goes sequentially through 3 stages (which we also call "stations” in the following text) to dry materials. 0062.
  • the canister In the first stage the canister is filled with material from the feeder (11). As the canister is being filled the heating process also begins.
  • Heat can be applied by an electrical element or via any heat transfer medium known to one skilled in the art. Temperature can be controlled by a thermostat, and settings can be made easily by simply dialing in the required temperature on the thumbwheels of a controller, or by typing a temperature value in the corresponding field of a computer controlled device. 0063.
  • the canister Once the canister has been heated for the time set it will then index automatically to the next stage, which is equivalent to station (13) of figu re 1 , where a vacuum is applied.
  • station 13 the canister is sealed and vacuum is applied, typically less than 0.1 bar, and preferably less than 10 "2 bar. Temperature is also controlled and may be different than in station (12). Moisture is evacuated to ambient air. A controller continuously monitors vacuum level ensuring the vacuum remains sufficient. The time that the canister is held under vacuum is also programmable 0064. After the vacuum cycle is completed the canister indexes again to the material treatment station.
  • a valve in the bottom of the canister is opened and material then flows from the canister into a material treatment chamber, indicated as 14 in Fig.1 Chamber 14 is sealed to sustain positive pressure, preferably from 0.1 to 15 bar, and filled with gas at a given and controlled temperature, pressure, and composition, the gas or gases being fed in through manifold 15. 0065.
  • the exposure of the material in (14) lasts for a specific programmed time, after which it can be submitted to the exposure of the same or a second gas, under another set of specific temperature, time and pressure conditions. Following one or more exposures to gas, the material is released to the next step.
  • the treated pellets are either stored in sealed bags for later use in a molding operation which will no longer require the presence of the drying/treatment equipment described above, or they are drawn by a feeder, for instance a vacuum loader or a starve-feeder screw device or any other feeding device known to the industry (all represented by 16 in Fig.1) to the process machine, represented by 17 in Fig.1.
  • a feeder for instance a vacuum loader or a starve-feeder screw device or any other feeding device known to the industry (all represented by 16 in Fig.1) to the process machine, represented by 17 in Fig.1.
  • the canister will index back to Stage 1. 0066.
  • the chamber 14 is pressurized with a first gas, up to a required partial pressure and with another diluent gas to the total final pressure.
  • the pressure of the gas during the treatment in chamber 14, might be either maintained constant during the treatment, or varied according to a specific program, which can include vibratory or pulsatory changes in pressure.
  • the program specifics would depend on the benefits obtained by testing empirically the effect of each process parameter. For example the effect of a fluctuation in pressure amplitude or frequency, on the diffusion of the gas into the free volume of the pellets. 0067.
  • the process is controlled by a system with a very simple to use operator interface, and preferably microprocessor based.
  • the dryer would be operated by simply setting the proper temperature and cycle time on the thumbwheels located to the right.
  • the display will indicate temperature and elapsed cycle time or, alternatively, temperature and vacuum level-.
  • the controller monitors alarm conditions to ensure proper performance.
  • a printer port is provided on the controller. A printed output of dryer operation may be obtained for each drying cycle. 0068.
  • parts (141), (142), (143) are conduits connecting to gas tanks (145) filled with the permeant, which can be a pure gas, a mix of gases and/or vapors, an aerosol, a fluidized bed, a liquifie i_gas blended with some chemicals which vaporizes passing through injector nozzles (ultrasonic or otherwise), etc.
  • gas tanks could also be replaced by gas generators, such as N2 generators, capable of transforming regular air, sucked in from the ambient atmosphere, into pressurized and purified dry nitrogen.
  • gas tanks and conduits are shown in figure , it is to be understood that as many should be present as are needed for the particular polymer plus permeant system that is being treated.
  • one or more of the gas tanks could be an inert gas that acts as a carrier for some other permeant.
  • a chamber (145) integral with the conduit (143) into which can be sprayed at a controlled flow rate an aerosol, fine mist, or dust, that is to be carried into the manifold (15).
  • Figure 3 shows an example of an embodiment of a configuration of a combined vacuum oven and dosing chamber of the invention (25), with vacuum setting and temperature both selectable, in w-hich valves (23) open or close depending on whether the operator is setting up the vacuum connection to the vacuum pump, or inserting a gas A, or several gases A, B etc.
  • Item (24) comprises an automatic feed mechanism wit i a flow controller, when the chamber is part of a continuous process, or a passageway to the manifold 22, in case of a batch process.
  • the manifold comprises connections to the vacuum side, with 29 comprising a diffusion pump capable of going down to 10 "2 bar and preferably 10 "4 bar.
  • a and B comprise two sources of gas with permeant, which can be activated independently. 0071.
  • Item (26) comprises the material to be dried and treated according to the invention.
  • Item (27) is the schematic for an electronically closing/opening valve gate which, at any programmed time, lets material (26) flow to chamber (28).
  • Item (28) comprises either an area for the treated pellets to drop down to a sealed bag, or it is a compartment filled with a fluid containing a permeant that is able to penetrate inside the dried polymer when the pellets drop into it through opening of gate (27).
  • new material can be fed through a passage through (22) and (24) and a vacuum can be drawn by opening a valve (23) to the vacuum side.
  • either the gas A and/or B are activated, then followed by opening of valve gate (27), or an inert gas treatment is supplied to A alone (say pure N2) to return the chamber pressure to atmospheric pressure. (27) is then opened and the pellets are immersed into a static fluid resting at a certain temperature in (2--S). After a specific and controlled time, the soaked pellets are separated from the liquid, which is released from the chamber (28), and the pellets are carried away to either a bagging station, or for further treatment before they are bagged. 0072.
  • One skilled in the art would know h ow to vary the sequence of events described above, but still not vary from th-e spirit of the present invention.
  • heaters for the vacuum oven could be replaced by RF heaters, or any dielectric means capable of rapidly raising trie temperature of the plastic during the drying stage.
  • Other means and types of vacuum pumps for obtaining a sufficient vacuum could be applied to the chamber in order to obtain a sufficient vacuum to operate the process.
  • the invention is not to be construed to being limited to only two additives A and B. 0073.
  • a further embodiment of the process of the invention that uses the equipment config ⁇ ration of figure 3 involves evacuating the chamber (25) and then allowing liquid with permeant and optionally solvent into the chamber (25) to the level of the pellets in the tray (26). Pellets are soaked for the required time and liquid is then drained from the vessel.
  • the system can be optionally under an inert gas pressure during soaking, and the soaking process can optionally be repeated with a second and subsequent liquids.
  • the process of the invention can be scaled to fit in line with a polymer producing reactor.
  • An example of this embodiment is shown schematically in figure 4.
  • a reactor (31) feeds through a conduit (32) and flange (33), which can be a hopper, an extruder plus disentanglement unit (34) with polymer, which is pelletized in (35) and then conveyed to a series of operations (12, 13, 14, 15 and 16) that correspond to the items of the same number in figure 1 , described above.
  • Treated polymer is then fed to a bagging station (36) for storage and future processing.
  • the pellets from 16 can be fed to an on-line processing unit, for example extrusion, injection molding, blow molding or other processing operation known to one skilled in the art.
  • the equipment represented in figure 4 can be scaled to be attached at the end of a resin manufacturer's reactor and produce large scale quantity of "ready to use” treated resin, according to the claims of the present invention.
  • 0076 The possible embodiments of the invention are not intended to be limited by the description above of figures 1 to 4.
  • the drying and permeation steps can be carried out in an extruder, instead of in the feed mechanism to an extruder.
  • R-176 extruder - dryer An example of a combination extruder plus dryer is that provided by the French Oil Mill Machinery Company (Piqua, OH) under the part number "R-176 extruder - dryer".
  • the R-176 uses a jacketed main barrel to carry a heat transfer fluid through to up to three separate control zones.
  • the zones can be used for drying and permeation of the pellets, before melting of the polymer takes place in a final zone. 0077. All steps of the process can then be carried out sequentially on line in a conveying device, a modified extruder, which has sealed compartments.
  • the angle of the helicoidal flight flange could be adjustable from tilted (to convey forward) to straight perpendicular (to hold the pellets inside stationary at a given spot, to effect treatment of a certain kind for a certain time (like vacuum or heating or both, or permeation by a gas or a liquid).
  • a software program would therefore direct the motion of the pellets from one station to the next, by triggering by a certain mechanism the change of the helicoidal angle, from straight to tilted, Or, if the conveying system is vertical, the screw can be rotating with no descending motion, only a stirring effect would be perceived, until the sealed trap separaing sections is opened, which would release to the next station, a given quantity of pellets ready for the next treatment.
  • the mechanism for heating the polymer need not be indirect, via a heat transfer medium, and radio frequency or microwave electromagnetic radiation could be used to heat the polymer directly. Examples 0079.
  • molecular weight measurements are performed using a Waters 150CV+ automated gel permeation chrornatography (GPC) apparatus (Waters Inc., Milford, MA).
  • GPC automated gel permeation chrornatography
  • PET polyethylene terephthalate
  • a 0.2% w/v solution is prepared from the 2% solution and 20 DL injected @ 30°C (column and pump are also set at 30°C) at a flow rate of 0.5 ml/min with a pressure of 120 - 124 bars.
  • a UV detector operating at 254 nm is used.
  • tetrahydrofuran THF
  • Rl refractive index
  • examples 1 and 2 are demonstrated the use of carbon dioxide as a permeant to reduce the degree of molecular weight degradation that polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polycarbonate (PC) respectively experience during melt processing.
  • Example 1 0081.
  • the carbon dioxide permeant could be mixed with finely powdered phosphites or phosphites and / or phenols dissolved a solvent such as methyl chloride or cyclohexane and atomized by injection into the carbon dioxide.
  • O>ther thermal stabilizers can be mixed with the carbon dioxide or another gas to improve stability during processing of the polymer.
  • polycarbonate resin in pellet form that is in a virgin state or disentangled is dried at 60° C or 120 °C and optionally treated with v ater as 80% humidity air for 1 hour, or nitrogen gas at 1 bar for 4 hours.
  • the MFI is measured at 300° C, 1.2kg, in units of g / 10 minutes. Tables 1 and 2 summarize the data.
  • Example 5 0091.
  • Example 5 shows that the effect of substantial reduction in M w (which in this case went to 8,400, very close to the entanglement molecular weight of polycarbonate, which is 5,500) was to remove the disentanglement of the chains.
  • the process of the invention in this example provides a means for reducing molecular weight of the polymer.
  • Example 6 0093. Disentangled and virgin polycarbonate pellets (initial M w > 23,000) were dried at 85°C overnight. They were subjected to a treatment with methyl alcohol with the partial pressure of methyl alcohol as given in table 3, and the remaining pressure adjusted up to a total of 1 bar total with nitrogen. Table 5 Disentangled Polycarbonate
  • Example 7 0095.
  • Virgin polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) pellets of M w 114,000 Daltons was dried at 60°C for 17 hours.
  • the dried pellets were subjected to the process of the invention by exposure to the following steps; 0096. Vacuum at 10 "4 bar at 35°C, followed by soaking in a mixture of 5% stearic acid in methanol for 1 hour at 35°C under I atmosphere pressure.
  • a virgin linear low density polyethylene (Engage 8180, Dupont Dow Elastomers) of M w 165,100 had an MFI of 14.2 grams per 10 minutes at 190°C and 21.6 kg. Pellets were treated according to the process of the invention embodied in figure 3. The pellets were subjected to a vacuum of 10 "4 bar at 25°C. They were soaked for one hour at 25C in a mixture of white spirit and ethanol into which 5% total of fatty acid esters were dissolved. The pellets were dried under vacuum for one hour and blown with air for 7 hours. 00100. Final MFI was 16.6, with no chain breakage and % disentanglement of 16.9%. 00101.
  • Disentangled pellets of the LLDPE treated in a TekFlow processor had an MFI of 19.2 with essentially zero chain breakage and 35% disentanglement.
  • MFI of the product was 49.2 g per 10 minues, with 2.2% chain breakage and 214% disentanglement.
  • 00102. The virgin LLDPE was finally treated in a TekFlow processor to 35% disentanglement and subjected to the same soaking in fatty acid ester solution. Pellets were retreated in a TekFlow processor and the MFI of the resulting pellets was 165.4, % chain breakage was 10.2% and disentanglement was 712%.
  • Example 9 00103.
  • a virgin polycarbonate had a melt flow of 58, with a Mw of 14,500. It was subjected to the treatment of the invention by drying at 60 °C under a vacuum of 10 "4 bar for 17 hours. It was then soaked in water at 55°C for 2 hours at atmospheric pressure. Pellets were surface dried in paper towels and the water content measured as 0.415%. 00104. The pellets were then disentangled in a TekFlow processor, which yielded a product with a melt flow of 117, negligible chain breakage and a degree of disentanglement of 100%. 00105. The disentangled pellets were subjected to water at 55°C and for one hour as above, and the measured moisture content of the pellets was 1.15%. Example 10 00106.
  • the virgin polycarbonate of example 9 was subjected to water treatment at 55°C and 4 atmospheres pressure, applied with nitrogen. The moisture content of the pellets was 2.9%.
  • the virgin polycarbonate of example 9 was subjected to water treatment at 55°C and 7 atmospheres pressure, applied with nitrogen. The moisture content of the pellets was 3.12%.
  • the virgin polycarbonate of example 9 was subjected to water treatment at 65°C and 7 atmospheres pressure, applied with nitrogen.
  • the moisture content of the pellets was 4.6%. 00109.
  • the examples described above show the effectiveness of the present invention in lowering viscosity of polymer melts.
  • the virgin pellets treated according to the process of the invention show increase in melt flow index.
  • the melt flow increase is substantially higher, and maximum increase in melt flow comes from subsequent processing of treated pellets in a disentanglement step.
  • the embodiments exemplified here show the ability of the process of the invention to alter and control the rheological properties of a polymer by impregnating solid polymer with a relatively small amount of permeant, the effect being increased when the polymer is disentangled.
  • the permeant is introduced in one stage to the polymer. However, in alternative embodiments, the permeant is introduced in two stages.
  • the permeant is introduced at a pressure in the preferred range of range of 0.1 bar to 20 bar, and in a second stage at a different pressure or the same pressure than the first stage.
  • the second stage is at a lower pressure than the first stage.
  • the second stage is at a higher pressure than the first stage.
  • the permeant contains a chemical component that is capable of breaking polymer chains, such as for example water or methyl alcohol in the case of polymers made by condensation reactions, and in a second stage the permeant contains a polymer chain building reagent, such as a cross linking agent or branching agent, or cyclic monomers, such as cyclic butylene terephthalate (CBT), capable of very fast ring opening and local chain growth.
  • a polymer chain building reagent such as a cross linking agent or branching agent
  • cyclic monomers such as cyclic butylene terephthalate (CBT)
  • the invention is also not intended to be limited as to the nature of the permeants or polymers that can be processed thereby, and any polymeric molecule that can be disentangled can be used in the invention.
  • ethylene propylene copolymer high-density polyethylene, high-impact polystyrene, low-density polyethylene, polyamide, polyacrylic acid, polyamide-imide, polyacrylonitrile, polyarylsulfone, poiybutylene, polybutadiene acrylonitrile, polybutadiene styrene, polybutadiene terephthalate, polycarbonate, polycaprolactone, polyethylene, polyethyl acrylate, polyetheredierketone, polyethylene sulfone, polyethylene terephthalate, polyethylene terephthalate glycol, polyimide, polyisobutylene, polymethyl acrylate, polymethyl ethyl acrylate, polymethyl methacrylate, polyoxymethylene (ethylene propylene cop

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  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
  • Medicinal Chemistry (AREA)
  • Polymers & Plastics (AREA)
  • Organic Chemistry (AREA)
  • Compositions Of Macromolecular Compounds (AREA)
  • Processes Of Treating Macromolecular Substances (AREA)
PCT/US2005/005016 2004-02-18 2005-02-17 Process for incorporating substances into polymeric materials in a controllable manner WO2005079445A2 (en)

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AU2005214953A AU2005214953A1 (en) 2004-02-18 2005-02-17 Process for incorporating substances into polymeric materials in a controllable manner
CA002555202A CA2555202A1 (en) 2004-02-18 2005-02-17 Process for incorporating substances into polymeric materials in a controllable manner
EP05723192A EP1718692A4 (de) 2004-02-18 2005-02-17 Verfahren zur einarbeitung von substanzen in polymermaterialien auf steuerbare art und weise
JP2006554199A JP2007523251A (ja) 2004-02-18 2005-02-17 制御可能な様式で物質を高分子材料に包含させるための方法

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US78198204A 2004-02-18 2004-02-18
US78198104A 2004-02-18 2004-02-18
US10/781,981 2004-02-18
US10/781,982 2004-02-18

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EP1718692A2 (de) 2006-11-08
EP1718692A4 (de) 2007-03-28
CA2555202A1 (en) 2005-09-01
US20050182229A1 (en) 2005-08-18
JP2007523251A (ja) 2007-08-16
AU2005214953A1 (en) 2005-09-01

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